Production of polyolefins is a large industry throughout the world producing billions of pounds of polyolefins each year. Improvements in these processes can save millions of dollars in production costs. Producers of polyolefins spend millions of dollars to research ways to decrease production costs. This is because of the vast economies of scale possible in these processes. That is, reducing production costs by a penny per pound can save large sums of money. For example, if all producers of polyolefins that comprised polymerized ethylene could reduce production costs by a penny per pound, this would produce a savings of about 800,000,000 dollars.
Currently, silos can be required in order to provide storage for polyolefins if downstream equipment, such as, for example, an extruder, is experiencing operational or process control problems. By utilizing silos, the production of polyolefins can continue while the downstream equipment is being repaired or process control problems are being corrected. Silos are also utilized to blend off-specification polyolefins with on-specification polyolefins to make a suitable polyolefin product. Silos and their associated equipment, such as, for example, a polyolefin transfer system, can require an extensive capital investment during construction. In addition, the maintenance and energy costs for these processes are also costly.
This invention provides a solution to minimize the capital, maintenance, and energy costs of polyolefin production by eliminating a need for silos and their associated equipment, or by reducing the costs associated with temporarily stopping or slowing polyolefin production.